Human Rights Advocacy in Africa: between Law and Politics

Presentation by Georgette Gagnon,  Africa Director, Human Rights Watch.

About Georgette Gagnon

Georgette Gagnon, an international human rights lawyer, is Executive Director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, the largest US-based international human rights organization in the world. She leads a team of international researchers who conduct fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses in countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and publish reports that expose abusive governments and actors to the world. From 2004-2007, Ms. Gagnon was Deputy Director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW). Prior to joining HRW, Ms. Gagnon held the post of Director of Human Rights for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina based in Sarajevo.

Ms. Gagnon has also documented the human rights impact of transnational companies operating in conflict zones, such as Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and proposed mechanisms to hold them accountable for the human rights consequences of their activities. She has co-authored several reports and a forthcoming book on natural resource development, conflict and human rights. Ms. Gagnon has also served with the United Nations in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda and worked with the Canadian International Development Agency on projects to strengthen human rights and the rule of law in China and India.

She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1986 and in 1998 obtained her LL.M with Distinction in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex in the UK. In 2003, Ms. Gagnon received the Honourable Walter S. Tarnopolsky Human Rights Award given to a resident of Canada who has made an outstanding contribution to international or domestic human rights.